Chelsea need to compensate for missing Frank Lampard

The Solution

Jose Mourinho has insisted that his team must improve this season to defend their title

Mind you this is a championship winning side and to suggest any alterations might seem preposterous, yet the only solution is that Chelsea will have to change their formation. Why would you change a Premier League winning side’s formation you ask? Well to operate more efficiently maximizing the type of players Chelsea have and to of course adapt – to provide an alternative if you will.

4-2-3-1 isn’t the best system given the roster Chelsea possess. It may work against lower and mid table opposition but not against a crowded opposition midfield especially against the likes Arsenal.

The solution – Inverting the pyramid into a flat out 4-3-3 with Matic holding and Fabregas and another central midfielder to partner him – a midfielder who can run box to box and score goals. Ramires is the only box to box midfielder currently in the squad and he may fit the bill, but Chelsea need somebody of more quality going forward, who can tackle, keep the ball and spray it around better than the Brazilian who isn’t known for his passing prowess.

4-3-3 is a system well known to Mourinho and Chelsea, it’s what won him back to back premier league titles in 2004 and 2005. It’s the system that the Blues played the most over the last decade and it worked marvelously well.

With a 4-3-3:

a) Chelsea will be able to have more of the ball, retain more possession and operate with more fluidity

b)Fabregas plays in his most suited position and can influence the game better

c) The burden on Matic is reduced with another player helping out defensively and closing down the spaces and

d) A narrower midfield can keep the ball better as there would be another body in the middle of the park to pass to with ease (instead of playing it through the opposition midfield up to Oscar at number 10.

Fabregas led the assists table in the EPL last season but Chelsea need more goals from midfield

Looking at the change in formation purely in terms of space –

a) Defensively, a 4-3-3 would tighten up the midfield making the midfielders more compact and harder to pass the ball through as compared to a 4-2-3-1 where the space between the number 10 and the two withdrawn players exists and can be exploited

b) Going forward there is more space for the two central midfielders to operate and drift into instead of the restricted space of playing a ball to a number 10

c) Lack of a number 10 frees an entire channel in the middle for wingers to cut inside to and for the centre forward to come deep and drag opposition defenders away.

Chelsea are in danger of losing the title because they might not adapt from last season. This way Chelsea can adapt and have a plan B - another play in the book for Mourinho. It’s something Mourinho could consider using to give the opposition something to think about rather than the expected 4-2-3-1 which teams expect him to field.

The Ideal Player

Oscar had a good season but needs to step up his goal tally

The answer is plain and simple. Chelsea haven’t replaced Frank Lampard. They brought in Fabregas, but after a season its quite apparent that the two are different players with different styles. Frank Lampard gave you 20 goals a season. Fabregas gives you 20 assists a season. Different players. Different qualities.

Chelsea lack goals from midfield in the way Frank Lampard so effortlessly scored for them. Oscar has performed decently enough but he is a number 10. Can he play in central midfield alongside Fabregas and Matic in a midfield three of a 4-3-3? It remains to be seen. He did have a good season last year scoring 7 and making 9 assists and the Brazilian does have a 59% tackle success rate, so theoretically he can be moulded into a quality central midfielder but certainly he lacks the build.

However, he has started in central midfield for the Brazilian national side. Oscar will have to considerably improve his all round game and increase his tally of goals to double digits at least to fill the void left by Lampard. Also if Mourinho does decide to stick to the same squad and field a 4-3-3, Oscar must be able to make the transition from number 10 and perform as an out and out central midfielder.

The other option would be to recruit a fresh player more adept at the role – Paul Pogba, Koke, Toni Kroos, Dani Parejo to name a few are players who would suit the system well but that’s the job of the scouting department at Stamford Bridge.

If the Blues can find the ideal candidate for the role it gives them the edge to adapt in big games like in the Champions league and will make the Chelsea machine operate at 100% efficiency instead of a mismatched 70% efficiency in terms of fluidity of player roles in the system.